Biology Career - Where am I going?

[Darks!de]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. What about veterinary medicine or exotic veterinary medicine, etc.? I know there are a few of you on here.

Luke

[defaced]

Are internship/co-ops common in the bio field? For me (an engineering student) I have to have had an internship in order to graduate, and employers prefer grads with experience. I'd start talking to professors or your university's careere services and see what comes across their desk in terms of looking for people to do work.

[Ed]

snip "Ed-

I must say that for the hour biology/zoology/ect majors put into college and working experience for a position at a zoo compared to what zoos are willing to pay..you either REEAALLY have to love your job or hate money! This is precisely why I went for a degree in Landscape architecture with an interest in zoo/exhibit design (great job, decent pay). " endsnip

Yes you really need to like what you do, but with that said, I have to say that often Zookeeping is a transitory career and a lot of people get out of it within 10 years or so of graduating from college and starting work at a Zoo. A lot of them discover that Zookeeping isn't frolicking with the animals all day and that it involves a lot of nasty dirty work and the other issue is that they discover that they do not have the final say over the animals that they are assigned to take care of.

I sure hope you aren't one of the designers that keepers curse all the time for designing exhibits where the drains are at the top of the slope, or on a mound, any number of other designs that makes an exhibit a nightmare. When the reptile house I work in was renovated, the keepers were not part of the design practice and the designers and the contractors ran the overflows for a number of exhibits with pools to the drain line before the valve which would drain the pool. So what happens is that if you overflow the pool, it floods the exhibit unless the drain valve is open but if the drain valve is open the pool doesn't hold water..... This is only one of a multitude of sins that occured during the renovation.....

Ed

[AQUAMAC]

Ed-

Still finishing up school so you don't have me to blaim for that yet :wink: As for the firm I hope to be working for, it works directly with the zoo keepers, behavioral biologists, ecologists, engineers, architects, and the public to avoid problems like the one your site seems to be having. A good landscape architecture firm always takes the zoo keeper's and animal's needs into account when designing...its all part of the process (One which I have been involved with for a very long time). BTW how did your female pardalis work out? I mentioned to one of your keepers that she was heavily gravid and had no place to deposit eggs.

Take care,

Mike

[Ed]

Hi Mike,

The female was x-rayed after that and was not gravid.... Despite how that enclosure looks there are several deep beds of mulch/soil areas that she has routinely used in the past to deposit eggs.

The issues go past my Zoo. If you talk to keepers nationwide, these are common problems that occur each time a building is renovated or built.
I have spoken to keepers at other Zoos and there have been enclosure built with outlets installed directly under water faucets, wiring and alarm boxes where tunnels drain, and doors to close to shift animals but you cannot see if the animal has shifted where the controls are and the locking mechanism is not where the controls are located. To name a very small number of issues at different Zoos (and these are new issues, not due to a building settling over time).

Ed

[AQUAMAC]

Ed-

Sounds like some serious engineering issues, have you spoken to those that installed the setups. Construction issues are problematic if everyone is not kept in the loop. How is that female doing now, she looked pretty bloated when I was there but strangely no gravid colors...hmmm

Take care,

Mike

[andersonii85]

Hey Luke,

Let's see, I have worked for two state agencies (NJ Fish and Wildlife, Pinelands Commission), one federal agency (US Fish and Wildlife Sevice), one aquarium (NAIB), and am now a high school teacher. While in college I also worked for a veterinarians office (he happened to be my professor as well) and my school (Greenhouse, and Animal Lab).

Here's my advice:

1) Get as much research experience as an undergrad as you can.
2) Take challenging classes
3) Sign up for as many internships as you can
4) Talk to your prof's about their research interests
5) Graduate with at least a 3.5 GPA

Be prepared to get entry level jobs for your first few years out of school = translation be ready to be poor for doing what you love. I can't speak fo the vet route, but most schools are VERY competitive in terms of applicants. If all else fails, get certified to teach...lol. Actually, teaching is very rewarding, respectable, not as impoverishing as you would think, and the benefits are excellent! Having summers off to do research is good. However, if you have no patience and don't like kids..... then please DON'T TEACH!

-J

[Ed]

Hi Mike,

snip "Sounds like some serious engineering issues, have you spoken to those that installed the setups. Construction issues are problematic if everyone is not kept in the loop." endsnip

As I said those issue go well beyond my Zoo. I have yet to chat with keepers at another Zoo and not hear of these issues. Other than how the overflow drains were messed up, those all came from other Zoos. As I said, these are pretty much industry wide issues.......


snip "How is that female doing now, she looked pretty bloated when I was there but strangely no gravid colors..." endsnip

Not bloated. No signs of fluid retention on the work up or the x-ray.... (one of the benefits of having three exotic animal vets on staff (including lots of herp experience).
Consensus is abundent fat pads.

Ed

[AQUAMAC]

Ed-

We can continue this via pm.